Return of the Prince
by koyuninjagirl
Summary: They all met when they were young, but he left after an incident. Now, after 5 years, he's back. Will they recognize him? More importantly, will he recognize them?
1. Prologue: Chapter 1

Hi. Well, this is my first fanfic I ever wrote… :D Yay me! I just noticed, also, that I published this on my friend's birthday. LOL Anyways, if any of you readers want to give me a review, DON'T go easy on me. Criticize, please! :D Thanks, and enjoy reading!

Disclaimer: I don't own Prince of Tennis. Oh, did I disappoint you? Mada mada dane.

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><p><strong>Prologue – Chapter 1<strong>

_A lone warrior stood at the top of the hill at midnight, silently breathing. An owl hooted into the darkness of the night. Footsteps crunched on the frozen, dewy grass and the warrior blended in with the darkness, awaiting and watching for the intruder._

_"It is only me," the intruder called out. "They said to tell you that they are about five minutes away and to apologize for going." With that, the intruder bowed and left. Silently, the warrior let the thoughts sink into his head. He gasped. They should not have gone. The prediction had showed-!_

_Hurriedly, the warrior rechecked that he had his sword and struggled into his light, sturdy armor. Not bothering to waste time running down the hill, the warrior jumped off, landed perfectly, and took off sprinting._

_Ten minutes later, the warrior arrived at the destination. Panting, he looked up just in time to see just what the prediction has shown him. His friend was lying limply on the floor, and a guy was holding a gun to his friend's head. The smirk on the killer-to-be's face was visible in the beams of moonlight shining upon Earth._

_"No!" the warrior cried out, grabbing his knife and throwing it at the murderer. His aim was true. Before the murderer could react in time, the knife knocked the gun out of his hand. The failed killer howled at the scratch the knife had made on him. Any normal person would have shuddered at the inhuman howl._

_Sword flashing, the warrior lopped the failed killer's head off. The dead killer dissolved into sand and disappeared. The warrior slid his bloodless blade back into its sheath. Standing up, the warrior's slightly dull, brown eyes shifted towards his friends. They were all thrown into the pile by the now dead killer, minus the one still lying limply on the cold, hard granite floor._

_"Goodbye," the warrior whispered before running off into the darkness. As he ran off, one of the warrior's friends began to stir.****_

_**The Next Day**_

_Knock. Knock. One of the warrior's friends knocked on the door of their friend's house, the other friends behind him. There was no answer._

_"Oh?" a female voice came from behind them. "If you're looking for Ry, they all went back to America this morning. I'm the only one left." The teammates turned to see Nanako, Ry's cousin, as she came up the stairs and unlocked the door. The only thing they could feel was shock._

_"How long will he be gone?" one asked._

_"Years, maybe?" Nanako shrugged. The friends were saddened, and Nanako turned around and went into the house._

_"Ry," Tezuka Kunimitsu, age nine, looked at the sky, where an airplane was flying across the sky. The others, too, looked up._

_"Ry."_

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><p>That was the first chapter. :3 I'll try and update soon, but depends if I have time… Well, actually this fanfic is pretty fun to write, so I'm sure it'll be soon…<p>

Read and Review, please! Thanks!


	2. Chapter 2

**MintLeafeon**:Really? Thanks~! =D

**Monkey Girl 13624**: Well, wish granted!

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><p><strong>Chapter 2<strong>

Cherry blossom petals fluttered downwards onto Fuji's hair. The brunette was in his third year of middle school, and would soon be graduating from Seigaku.

"Fuji," Tezuka Kunimitsu, Fuji's stoic friend, teammate, and the captain of the tennis team, quietly strode up to him.

"HELLO BABY!" Kawamura, the burning one, shouted out to Fuji and Tezuka.

"Saa… Who gave him a racket this early in the morning?" Fuji smiled.

"Look! Look! Oishi, it's Fujiko and Tezuka, nya~!" Kikumaru Eiji, the hyperactive acrobat, could be seen pulling Oishi, the mother hen of the group, along the path.

"Good morning!" Fuji smiled again, eyes closed. "Where are Momo and Kaido?" As he said this, Fuji could hear bickering some couple of feet away.

"I'm not losing to you, baka Mamushi!" Momo shouted.

"Fshuu… I'm not losing to you, baka peach-butt!" Kaido hissed/shouted back. Behind the two who were bickering, Fuji could hear Inui, the mad scientist.

"Ie data… Today, they ran at 60 km/h, amazing. Ie data," Inui muttered while scribbling into his notebook and keeping pace with the two arguing rivals at the same time.

The Seigaku tennis regulars had gathered. The new school year had started, and Momo and Kaido were both second-years. The rest of the regulars were third-years. If he were here, then-. Fuji frowned slightly and shook his head to clear the thoughts.

"Thinking about Ry?" Tezuka glanced at Fuji.

"There is a 95% chance of that," Inui informed.

"Saa… How interesting, you've read me well," Fuji smiled. "But yes, I almost started thinking about him." The regulars were quiet for a few minutes. _Diing_! The bell rang for class.

"Get to class," Tezuka ordered. "There is tennis practice after school."

.

Bam. Clonk. The sound of tennis balls meeting rackets, accompanied by the sound of sneakers scraping the ground, filled the courts.

"Don!" Momo called out as he successfully executed a dunk smash to his opponent, Arai.

"Too bad, see you next week!" Eiji cried, hitting a shot back at his opponent.

"All regulars and new members, come to Court A! Everyone else, resume practice!" Tezuka said. There was a few seconds of hustle and bustle as everyone moved to their respective courts.

"See? I told you, with my two years of tennis experience, I would be standing on Court A!" one extremely loud first-year boasted. Tezuka resisted the urge to take some aspirins, instead pinching the bridge of his nose.

"New members, turn in your registration forms to me," Oishi called out. There was a rustle of papers as the new members all took out their forms. No one stepped up to turn in their paper, instead waiting for someone else to step up first.

"Che," a voice said. All heads turned to the speaker, who was currently walking towards Oishi. All jaws dropped to see him the first one to step up and turn in his paper. All jaws literally fell onto the ground with a _thud!_ when the first-year, who had finished turning in his paper, picked up his red racket and turned to face them.

"Hurry up, you're all so slow," the boy stated before walking back to his spot in the corner.

Eventually, the others turned in their papers as well. By then, Fuji and Tezuka were glancing occasionally at the first-year who had the spunk to turn in his paper first. They had not ever had a new member who had willingly went up first. Oishi coughed slightly to catch everyone's attention.

"Welcome to the Seigaku tennis club," Oishi said. "I am the vice captain, Oishi Shuichiro."

"I'm the captain, Tezuka Kunimitsu," Tezuka continued, catching his cue. All the other regulars introduced themselves as well.

"Today, all new members will be playing against one of us regulars! The penalty is…" Eiji announced, initiating a drumroll at the end of his sentence for dramatic effect.

"Inui Juice," Inui finished the sentence calmly. The other members, minus the new ones, all paled.

"They must be taking the new members seriously for them to use his juice as penalty," one member said. On the other hand, the new members were…

"Wow! The regulars are so nice to give us juice if we lose!" the new members were murmuring amongst themselves. Fuji began to smile in a dark, sadistic fashion. Only one person in the crowd of new members noticed this, and his mouth pressed into a smirk.

"Mada mada dane."


	3. Chapter 3

Yay~ Finally, Return of the Prince is updated. =3

Reviews:

**animelover4ever69**: Thank you, and I guess I should, huh. It's just that I use whatever seems... natural to me... So I apologize! And that will be changed!

**MintLeafeon**: Hee. Thank you~! Now you will learn what comes next! =3

**Monkey Girl 13624**: Why thank you! I thought my stories wouldn't be this appreciated. ^.^ Next chapter appeared! XD

**Kanrei**: Yes, the idea must seem a bit strange... Hee. This story is partly, er..., supernatural, I guess you could say. Updated! XD

**aku no tensai**: OMG. Continued, continued! Welcome.

**DragonFire Princess**: Thank you! ^.^ You'll learn what happens next if you read this chapter. XD And it is continued... er... on 3/13/12 XD

That's all the reviews! =3 Have fun reading, I guess. XD

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><p><strong>Chapter Three<strong>

Pong. Pong. Pong. A tennis ball was bounced up and down. One of the new members was bored, so he kept bouncing the ball over and over again. The raffle was being held to see which new member would play which regular. The first match would be Tezuka VS…

"Horio! First-year!" Oishi called out. There was some murmuring before the boastful, unibrow first-year walked out.

"Good luck, Horio!" two other first-years called.

"Not that I'll need it," Horio bragged. "With my two years of tennis experience, I'll score a lot of games! Just you two watch, Kachiro and Kato, my experience will help me."

"Saa… how interesting," Fuji smiled. "Why don't you go easy on him, Tezuka?"

"Aa," came the short reply.

"There is an 100% possibility that Buchou will win this game completely," stated Inui, "while going easy on the kid."

"Rough or smooth?" Tezuka asked. Horio grinned.

"Smooth."

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><p>Five minutes later, Tezuka won, 6-0. A panting Horio was left on the ground. All the new members, minus one, were in awe.<p>

"How cool… Our buchou is so good!" they murmured. A certain new member, while bouncing the tennis ball, regarded the thoroughly beaten and currently ignored Horio. He smirked. Who was it again that said he wouldn't need the luck and would score a lot of games?

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><p>Finally, all the matches, except for one, had been played between regular and new member. Now, the last slip of paper was drawn. Most of the new members fervently hoped that their name would not be called.<p>

"Echizen! Please come up!" Oishi called. All of the new members, minus one, breathed a sigh of relief. They were terrified after seeing all the amazing skills the regulars had. The one thought in most of their heads was _'So this is the skill of the regulars of the Seigaku tennis club!'_

So who was the last player? As soon as the name was called, the bouncing of the tennis ball had stopped. The said person stepped out, and the regulars' eyes were fixated on him. It was that audacious first-year, but why did he seem so _familiar_?

"Saa… So his name is Echizen, eh, Tezuka?" Fuji's eyes were open.

"Aa," was the only reply, but Fuji could discern curiosity in the voice. It wasn't every day that you'd find a familiar person with the name of Echizen, right? Maybe he really was Ry.

"_You'll_ be going against _me_?" Momo's loud voice clearly questioned the kid's height. Fuji saw no flash of recognition, only annoyance, in the kid's eyes, so maybe he wasn't Ry.

"Che," came a reply. "Hurry up and serve." Momo raised an eyebrow.

"Now that's no way to talk to your senpai!" Momo frowned.

"Che, mada mada dane." By now, most of the new members were shocked at the boldness of this kid. How did he dare to challenge a regular like that?

Now, Momo served. _'The kid probably won't get it…'_ Just as the thought formed in his head, _BAM!_, the kid got a return ace, swinging his right hand.

"Ha?" Momo exclaimed. This kid…

"He let his guard down, ne Tezuka?" Fuji smiled.

"Aa."

"Ne, referee, you gonna call the score?" Echizen's lazy voice sounded.

"Eh-er-um, 15-0!" the referee called the score.

"What the?" Momo was still gaping.

"Ne, you ready yet?" Echizen called. "I'm serving." Momo narrowed his eyes slightly. This kid… No, he couldn't lose! The juice-!

Tossing the ball up, Echizen served. Momo, desperate to not drink the juice, managed to reach the ball. Echizen lobbed the ball back. Grinning like a Cheshire cat, Momo jumped up.

"Dunk Smash!" called Momo.

"Oh, there it is, his special move!" Eiji said, excited.

"But, Echizen!" Oishi cried, worried. "Think of all the power behind that smash!"

Just as Oishi said that, Echizen reached the ball, and with a simple flick of his wrist, hit the ball into the far corner as Momo was landing. All of the regulars were shocked. It wasn't very often that someone could return Momo's Dunk Smash.

"30-0!" the refree called.

From there, Echizen proceeded to win point after point until the game was finished and Momo had lost. By now, all the members and regulars were shocked.

Who was this kid? How could he have beaten Momo so easily?

**Punishment Time**

"All of those who lost, line up here!" Inui said. As the members lined up, Momo's face was noticeably pale.

"Wow, senpai sure are nice to let us drink juice when we lost!"

"Yeah, this is awesome!"

Horio grinned, "Of course! With someone like _me_, of course they'd give us juice!"

Inui handed each person a drink. Since the new members were so busy talking, they didn't notice the strange color of the juice he gave them. Only Momo looked green and horrified.

"Fufufufu… Now, drink!" Inui cackled. The unsuspecting new members raised the drink and… 3… 2… 1….

AARJGALEKRJAG-##$#^%&#%##!%$*

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><p>Enjoyed the Punishment Time? That was more of a side story for readers. XD<p>

WELL, criticize away?

~Koyu


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